Emergency exit route illumination system and methods

Abstract

A system and method that helps evacuees exit a building in the event of an emergency such as a smoke event, a fire, an earthquake, a security breach, and / or the presence of unsafe levels of hazardous gasses, using linear illuminators parallel to and near the floor of an interior room or hallway to provide floor-level identification and illumination of the exit route to be used in the event of such an emergency, with some linear illuminators having directional aspects along hallways to lead evacuees toward an exit, and other illuminators outlining the perimeter of windows or doors that are safe to exit through, the illuminators normally being hardly noticeable but having controllers and energizers linked to the alarm and security systems of hospitals, hotels, residences and other occupied building structures to light up the planned exit route when emergency conditions are detected.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application relates and claims priority to the prior co-pending U.S. Provisional patent application No. 61 / 201,603, entitled “EMERGENCY EXIT ROUTE ILLUMINATION SYSTEM AND METHODS,” filed Dec. 12, 2008, the contents of which are incorporated herein by this reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Technical Field[0003]This invention relates in general to systems that provide lighting and / or information to building occupants in the event of an emergency such as a smoke event, a fire, an earthquake, a security breach, and / or the presence of unsafe levels of hazardous gasses. The invention, more particularly, relates to systems and methods providing floor-level identification and illumination of the exit route to be used in the event of an emergency, especially as integrated with the alarm and security systems of hospitals, hotels, multi-family residences and other high occupancy building structures. The invention also...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010]It is a fundamental object of the present invention to overcome the obstacles and challenges of the prior art in a way that helps save lives and avoid injury by helping to orient occupants of a building in the event of an emergency, and guiding such occupants toward exits through the use of illumination with directionality.

Problems solved by technology

People tend to become overly confused and disoriented when they are in a building that is experiencing an emergency such as catching on fire, particularly in buildings such as hotels, hospitals or other institutions where the occupants stay in the buildings for such short periods of time that they are not very familiar with the best way to exit the building.

To top off the confusion factors, once smoke gets in a person's eyes and lungs, they are physically impaired, and they start panicking as their oxygen supply drops and disorientation sets in quickly as a result.

Unfortunately, the air near the ceiling is the first to fill with smoke.

Hence, panicked people in a fire may have little chance of seeing the exit lights that are intended to guide them toward safety.

As a result, the occupants of a building or structure such as office buildings, night clubs, hotels, hospitals, and even simple residences, and the firefighters entering such structures to render aid, are at serious risk of quickly becoming confused and disoriented and then asphyxiated in smoke-filled hallways, even when code-compliant exit lighting systems are installed and fully functioning.

Over 2,970 civilians died in structure fires in 2007 (one death every 153 minutes), many as a result of their inability to locate a safe exit from the structure in a timely manner.

Horrifically, even the trained firefighters who enter a burning building to render aid are at risk.

Indeed, more than a dozen firefighter lives are lost every year in the US because they become lost or disoriented in the burning structure and run out of air.

Analogous challenges are presented in virtually any type of disaster or emergency situation that requires immediate evacuation of a building structure, whether due to fire, flood or earthquake, or whether due to human threat such as a security breach, hazardous gas release, terrorist attack, bomb threat or the like.

Some have tried to overcome such challenges and problems by designing creative exit lighting systems, but their attempts have fallen far short of the ideal.

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